


Broken X-Wings

by FanGirlFascination



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 05:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17218091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanGirlFascination/pseuds/FanGirlFascination
Summary: The Jedi Master spread out his arms to either side and turned back to face the mountain side. He would have been looking directly at her, but his eyes were closed.A beat passed, then two… then three… then… he smiled.“Catch.”And he fell.Set during The Last Jedi.Subtle callbacks to The Clone Wars series.





	Broken X-Wings

Long, pale fingers wove through the greying strands of the man sleeping on the cot. He was older; she had known he would be. Time waited for no man after all. But as she watched the shadows and light chase each other over the wrinkled face, she smiled. The familiar starlit glow pulsed through her near-translucent skin, illuminating the rough and weathered skin of the man she loved.

She sighed softly and withdrew her hand before he could wake up. Her presence in the Force was carefully masked, just like he had taught her, but her natural glow already ran the risk of waking him without adding physical contact into the mix. She wanted to touch him, badly, but knew he would more than likely be uncomfortable with it. He’d been left alone in his head for too long. Whatever ridiculous notions he’d come up with would have to be dealt with soon but for now, he deserved to rest. He’d had a very trying day.

Era’s astral eyes had watched as the girl, Rey, handed Grand Master Skywalker a relic of his past. She herself hadn’t seen the object since she had been a youngling, and it certainly hadn’t been wielded by Luke. Yet here it was, the legacy of Anakin Skywalker, united once again. She knew the last time Luke had held that weapon had been the last time he could truly described himself as ‘innocent’. So much had been lost that day in Bespin. She, of course, only knew how much from the tales Luke and the others had told her. Still, hovering just out of sight, wings beating almost soundlessly, Era had fought the impulse to soar to him. Her wings had almost made the decision for her and she fought to remain where she was. She hadn’t been expecting the appearance of the lightsaber. She was fairly certain Leia hadn’t known about it either, since surely she would have warned the young scavenger about the potential reaction the object would promote in Luke.

However, she needn’t have worried. After carefully cradling the saber in his mismatched hands, scrutinising and studying it, Luke had merely approached Rey, shoved the weapon back into her arms and strode past her. Era allowed her wings to glide softly in Luke’s direction, still keeping out of sight. She heard it all; Rey’s pleading, Luke’s gruff dismissal, Chewie’s roars, argumentative voices and mournful silences. She settled down on the cliff edge at the back of the hut and waited. The girl was stubborn and probably wouldn’t leave the front door unguarded. So, Era resolved herself to wait until they had both been taken into the realm of sleep before attempting to get closer to Luke.

So, here she was, crouching on the ground of the hut, admiring the sleeping form of her lover for the first time in years. She sighed and leaned back against the wall. 5 years, was that all? No time at all for a creature like her. But it had felt like an eternity. It had felt like the trapped existence she remembered from her childhood, living on Milieus Prime.

Her mother had tried to warn her. Once they had been freed and she expressed the desire to leave the system she had known all her life. Her mother had said not to allow her heart to get hurt. That included falling in love with beings with a much shorter life span than she. She had rolled her eyes and assured the worrisome woman that she would do no such thing. But then, almost 30 years later, she had met him.

After living through the Separatist controlled system, then the ‘corrupt’ Republic, then the Empire of Sheev Palpatine, Era had known one thing for sure. She wanted to meet the individual responsible for taking down Vader and The Emperor. The son of the man responsible for freeing her people on Milieus Prime from Separatist control. So she tracked him down and found… a sweet bashful farm boy in the clothes of a Jedi Master. A humble man with haunted eyes yet a cheerful smile who boasted, not of his great victory, but of the bravery of his friends. He always insisted he couldn’t have done it without them. She agreed; he was useless on his own. It took her less than 3 days to fall completely in love with him.

Luke shifted in his sleep and she took her cue to leave.

Her wings stretched up and carried her to a small cove above the ruined temple. She curled up in the white feathers of her lower wings while the two billowing black wings protruding from her shoulder blades formed a barrier in front of her pale form. A porg slipped between the feathers and curled up at her bared stomach. No one would see her until daybreak, unless they looked very closely; in which case the may have spotted two pale glowing orbs, a galaxy of stars looking down at one stone hut, and the sleeping girl outside it.

*

By the time Era awoke, Luke and Rey were already up. Rey following the old Jedi around the island as he desperately tried to do more and more to shake her off. He was still very fit; jumping from cliff to cliff, climbing steep hills, disappearing into the heart of the island only to find Rey waiting for him whenever he tried to get back to his hut. Era even giggled at his disgusting stunt with the green milk from the Thala-siren. Honestly she almost thought it had worked… but Rey remained as stubborn as ever.

Trying to stay undetected was hard. Not only did she need to avoid Luke and Rey, but also Chewie and the fish nuns. The Porgs knew she was here and R2 had found her stowing away with them on the Falcon so she wasn’t worried about them. Still, keeping out of sight was hard!

By the end of the day she was exhausted and had just resigned herself to her cove in the hilltop when Luke, once again, emerged from his hut. His clear determination not to wake Rey peaked her interest and she followed from a distance. Once or twice he stopped as he descended the main stairway down to the Falcon. She breathed softly, thanking the Force the wind was strong enough to mask the beat of her wings. Still, she was fairly certain he was aware something was following him. Eventually, he got down to the Falcon and slipped past a distracted Chewbacca into the ship.

Era was tempted to follow, but knew he needed this moment alone. The Falcon was home, just as much as the Temple had been.

Her heart lurched at the thought; the Temple.

The familiar cylinder of weighted metal hung from her hip, a stark reminder of what she had lost. She had never activated it again. Not after that night.

_“Luke! LUKE!”_

_“Help!”_

_“It’s Ben-”_

_“We’re trapped-”_

_“…Please…”_

Era shut her eyes against the onslaught of ghostly screaming in her mind and ducked further behind her rocky shelter. She knew the glowing pulse of blue blood under her skin would reveal her so her black wings covered her form. She found the inner strength to breathe calmly and release the tidal wave of emotion back into the Force. She could never forget that night. And if he found out what she had done-?

Era snapped herself back to the present in time to look out and see Luke exiting the Falcon. He paused at the bottom of the ramp and glanced around. Chewy still hadn’t noticed him but-

Was he looking for her?

Had he worked it out?  
He walked off, not with the gait of an accomplished mission but a renewed determination. She, as always, followed.

He climbed and climbed and kept climbing. Past the ruins, past his hut and the sleeping Rey, up to the very top where he disappeared into a cave. Era stuck close to the side of the cliff and watched as Luke reemerged onto a long, protruding stone ledge. There was a stone plinth on it and Era could feel the waves of the Force being expelled from the whole area. A sacred sanctuary to the Jedi of Old.

Luke passed the plinth and stood on the edge. Era watched, her heart hammering, surely he wasn’t- He couldn’t… Luke stood still, very still and Era wished she could see his eyes. His posture didn't look like one who had given up, yet… that’s exactly what he appeared to be doing…unless…

The Jedi Master spread out his arms to either side and turned back to face the mountain side. He would have been looking directly at her, but his eyes were closed.

A beat passed, then two… then three… then… he smiled.

“Catch.”

And he fell.

Era launched herself off the mountain side, no longer caring for stealth. Her four wings sliced through the air and propelled her towards the falling man. The illuminating rivers under her skin glowed with adrenaline and her eyes burned with starlit fire. Her long, strong arms reached out and-

Luke laughed gleefully as the familiar hands wrapped around his own and yanked him off his course towards the rocks below. A sensation he hadn’t felt since their impromptu escape from the Granicus System.

“Most people say hello!” came the unamused grumble from the disgruntled female as she set him down on a grassy verge.

She landed next to him and crossed her long arms over her chest. Her white underwings folded neatly against her back while the black wings on top remained slightly expanded, curving gently around her frame.

“Like you did?” he shot back with a wry, teasing grin.

He looked her over as she avoided his gaze. She looked exactly the same as the last time he had left her. Well, not exactly the same. That time she was curled up on their bed, sleeping peacefully, while he got ready to go and confront his nephew.

_“Where are you going?” came the sleepy mumble, hand outstretched, grabbing lazily, “come back to bed.”_

_He kissed her forehead and caressed the backs of his fingers down her arm before gently playing with one of her feathers._

_“I need to do something. I won’t be long,”_

Still, the long, wild grey hair, the black midriff baring top and pale flowing skirt the floated around her knees, giving tantalising glimpses of leg between the swathes of fabric. Her sensible boots contrasting her ethereal skin with glowing blue rivers flowing beneath. Her eyes shining brightly, painted with the glow of the galaxy. The fine gold head-dress decorated with golden stars glinted from her hair and her ever present blue pendant glinted from its place on her clavicle. Her forearms were encircled with leather straps and around her waist sat her belt onto which was clipped…

Two Lightsabers.

_Two…?_

His breath caught.

He recognised hers, strapped to her left side. But he also recognised the other one… his own.

Her eyes followed his gaze sadly.

“We need to talk,” she sighed.

He looked once again into her bright, youthful face.

“…No.”

She blinked in shock.

“But Luke-”

“No!” he snapped.

Era stepped back, frowning at him. It was a rare thing for Luke to snap at her, only ever happening if she was in danger. They had always been very open with each other, even when it was difficult. The fracture now imbedded in that previous honesty hurt Era greatly. Luke must have sensed that too because he drew himself tall, tangibly securing the hurt behind the wall of stone that was Grand Master Luke Skywalker. He took a deep breath then said:

“Take Rey, get back in the Falcon and go home.”

“No Luke, I’m here to talk,” she persisted, reaching towards him but he stepped back.

“Era, please…”

“Luke, I need to talk to you!” she took another step.

Luke spun on his heel and began his retreat, regretting his decision to confront her.

“Luke please! Don’t do this!” Era wavered between trying to move after him and breaking apart at the sight his retreating back.

“Luke please…!”

“No Era,” his voice carried back on the breeze.

“No! Don’t!” she reached out, begging desperately before her anger raced through her like white-hot lava, making the shimmering tracks of her veins flare violently beneath her skin, “Don’t walk away from me, Boy!”

The term drew him up short and he stopped. Everything was silent, save for the sounds of the waves, the chirps of the creatures around them and Era’s rapid heaving breaths.

Luke’s dry chuckle rumbled into the mix.

“It’s been a while since you’ve called me that,” he remarked, “it hardly applies to me anymore.”

She scoffed softly.

“You could live on one hundred years from now, you’d still be a boy compared to me.”

The Grand Master turned around and for a split second, Era saw the bashful farm boy emerge in the greying face. However, it was only a brief moment before the weight of the galaxy settled again and Luke’s shoulders visibly slumped.

“I’ve dealt with her all day. Please don’t ask me to come back,” he sighed.

Era opened her mouth to refute once again but closed it. He was tired, in every sense of the word he was tired. He looked old, worn out and… done. Now, without the restful grip of sleep engulfing him, every one of his stresses was displayed starkly on his being.

She tried again.

“I’m not here for that,” she breathed, “I just wanted to see you. Rey doesn’t know I’m here. I stowed away on the Falcon.”

Luke’s stern expression softened slightly, but he still didn’t reach for her. Instead he chose to turn around and look out over the water.

“Why didn’t you say hello?” came the question.

She cringed, remembering a time when that question would not have been laced with bitter resentment.

“I didn’t know how,” she confessed, stepping up beside him and following his gaze, “I’ve searched for you for so long. Followed every lead I could. Once I realised you’d left a map… well I-I tried to steal it. I wanted to find you myself.”

“What happened?”

“It was a fake. By the time I worked that out it was too late. The resistance already had a hold of it.”

“Leia,” he affirmed softly.

“Yes. She never stopped looking either.”

His silence demanded an explanation. She decided to give it to him, if only to get one back.

“We… had a disagreement,” she started hesitantly, “we were scared… we… were angry. I blamed Ben; for everything. She blamed Snoke. It didn’t really get ugly but… we stopped talking, for a long time. I didn’t even know she had split up with Han until I found the base. We’re better now. A lot of things have happened. When we got the full map, Leia encouraged me to come with Rey.”

“But Rey doesn’t know you’re here?”

“No, she doesn’t know who I am or why I wanted to find you. She saw me at the base, but Leia agreed it would be better not to let her know who I was.”

“And why is that?” his voice didn’t change, monotone and cold, she forced down the lurch of pain in her heart.

“Because I didn’t want her to try and convince me to team up with her. I’m not interested in what she wants with you. I just wanted to see you. I- I missed you. I mourned you,” her fingers caressed the lightsaber that didn’t belong to her, “I couldn’t find you. When I found this… I thought you had died.”

Luke let out a shaky breath.

“When I woke up… The Temple was burning… I thought you were gone,” Era swallowed hard, still able to taste the ash in her mouth, “that was the difference.”

“What difference?” Luke prompted.

Era was silent for a long time, seemingly weighing her words. She already knew the answer, though she was hesitant to admit it to him.

“You weren’t there” she croaked out, eventually, “every other time; all those missions, different planets, different systems, the space battles, the peace treaty disputes… you were always there. Then you turned your attention to the Temple and I stayed with you.”

“You were a good teacher,” he said simply, still not looking back at her.

“I was happy.” she admitted, as she softly shuffled her feet another inch towards him. She was so close! A slight swing of her hand and she would be able to hook her fingertips into the fabric of his tunic. She didn’t.

“I loved teaching them the histories I had lived through but still missed. It was like I could discover what had been happening while I was captive on Millius Prime. When the world seemed so much smaller. I loved learning about the Force with you. Duelling with Tionne and Kam…” she faltered at the names. “… but… underneath it all… I was happy we weren’t always in the kind of danger we had gotten used to. Running to help with every mission the New Republic sent our way, knowing how dangerous they were…”

She paused again, knowing how her ramblings were preventing her from reaching her point.

“Luke, I’m not brave,” she murmured, the tears finally conquering the barrier of her long lashes and dragging stardust down her translucent skin.

Luke eventually, finally, looked at her. She could feel his stare, bewildered and shocking as her opened his mouth to speak.

“Era, that’s not-”

“It is!” she insisted, her head lowed in shame from his gaze, “everything I did… everything I accomplished… I did it for you!”

Her tears dropped to the ground, glowing white before dissipating into the atmosphere.

“I did it because you asked me! Because I wanted to impress you! So when I woke up and… I-I couldn’t…” her breathing grew faster as the memory flooded her vision, “you were gone! There was fire, and smoke, I couldn’t see anything!”

She spun from him and allowed her feet to carry her back and forth, until her wings picked her up to continue the movement a few inches of the ground.

“I heard them screaming. I got there as fast as I could. It burned!!!” her wild gaze found his, waiting in trepidation for her to continue her collection of that night.

“I found Kam first, he was fighting three of them, but I couldn’t get through. By the time I found my way around Tionne had taken Kam’s saber from his hand and rushed to get her revenge for his death. I was scared Luke! I had never seen that level of anger before.”

The beat of her wings suddenly stopped. She dropped heavily, allowing her knees to buckle as she crumpled to the floor.

“I left. I flew away screaming for you, trying to find you because I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t brave enough to go into the fight myself without you next to me. Not until…”

She broke off, allowing the sobs to wrack her frame as her hand clutched the hilt of his lightsaber. A shift from Luke towards her was all it took for her wings to rear into life and drag her body towards his outstretched arms as she crumpled against him.

“I found out what caused that level of anger very quickly,” she sobbed into his chest, “Luke I’m sorry, I- I’m sorry…”

“Hush now,” he murmured, his arms automatically finding their way into the gap between her top and bottom set of wings so he could hold her closer, his hand splayed out over her back. Luke buried his face in her wild hair so he wouldn’t have to see it… the metal flash that had caught his eye as she had been talking.

They stayed like that for a long time, clinging to each other, mourning the life they had lost. Eventually her sobbing subsided enough for her to draw even breaths again, marred only by the occasional hiccup or sniffle.

“Come on,” Luke prompted, nudging softly against her cheek before pulling back, still keeping his arms locked round her.

Era simply nuzzled into his neck, unwilling to let him leave her again. Luke gave her a few more moments to come to terms with the knowledge they would have to move soon.

“Era,” his voice rumbled against her skin, “we’re only going to the hut. We can continue talking tomorrow.”

Era eventually withdrew, skin glimmering in the moonlight before the shine faded to clear tear tracks marring her face. Luke’s rough hand skimmed over her cheeks, wiping the tracks away. She closed her eyes relishing the touch, her hands grasping tightly to his wrists.

Luke grasped her hand softly and led her away. Steadfastly ignoring the gleam of steel grey that replaced the once bright white tip of her right wing.

The walk back to the hut was long. Both content in taking their time, walking together, holding hands like they used to. Each of them aware of the shift that was about to happen. What Rey would have to say when she woke and realised she and Luke were no longer alone. Era anticipated Rey to ask for her help in convincing Luke to come back. She also anticipated the girl’s reaction when she refused. Era would be content living out the rest of Luke’s days on this island with him.

As for after… well, her mother had warned her not to fall in love with a mortal.

They finally got back into the hut, sneaking past a sleeping Rey and gently closing the door behind them, shutting out the world.

“You were in here last night, weren’t you?” Luke asked.

“I was,” she affirmed, “but how did you know? You’ve shut yourself off from the Force.”

She reveled in the familiar way Luke cringed when he’d been caught out.

“So you know.”

“Of course, you would have been able to sense me eventually. I’ve spent two days following you both,” she said, sitting heavily down on the small cot and toeing off her boots.

“You left something,” he stated, producing a jet-black feather seemingly from nowhere.

She blinked, before rolling her eyes and taking it from him.

“I’m sorry, sometimes they get caught in the metal. Honestly, I barely feel it anymore.”

“How?” he asked, looking fixedly at the floor.

“Ben,” she said simply, glancing at the metal wing tip that had once been soft, downy white feathers.

“That night… I went back to… like I said, I was angry. I found him. Him and the six others who had turned. Well, four others, Tionne and Kam must have managed to take out the others before…” she paused, swallowing thickly, “well, we fought, if it hadn’t been for my wings I would have died. It was like everything you had ever taught me left my senses. I used both my saber and yours and still…Nothing was coordinated, just raw…”

“… anger.” he finished.

“… yes.”

“I remember the anger that flowed through me. With Vader. He threatened Leia.”

“You stopped yourself Luke,” Era interjected softly, “Ben stopped me. I don’t know if my other wings were powerful enough to get me away or if he simply chose not to follow. Either way, I managed to escape.”

“Era,” he said softly and she looked up, locking eyes with him, “I’m so sorry.”

Luke sank slowly to his knees and shuffled forward. Era took his face in her hands, smiling sadly at the aged face that was pleading for her forgiveness, both of them knowing he was apologising for so much more than a mutilated wing. She leant forward and placed a small kiss on his forehead.

“I know.”

The kiss seemed to cut the strings of guilt that held him together and Luke heaved a shuddering sigh before seemingly crumpling into her arms. He buried his face into her lap and secured his arms around her waist. Era responded by wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, stroking up and down his back and laying soft kisses wherever she could reach. She threading her fingers into his hair and her wings wrapped around them both.

Through whispered endearments she eventually coaxed them both into the small cot. A tight fit but neither party minded. Keeping as close to each other as possible she cajoled him out of his rough outerwear that protected him from the harsh elements of the island. Finally, the softer fabric underneath agreed with her sense of touch, he refused to let her take off anymore, and she cuddled back down, laying mostly on top of him.

Together they breathed each other in. Listening to their heartbeats. The crash of the water outside and the sounds of the animals that came out to explore the night. They touched and explored each other. Hands hardly ever ceasing movement in their quest for tactile comfort. Soft kisses were exchanged until both allowed exhaustion to claim their conscious minds and drag them off into a warm slumber. Leaving the worries for tomorrow firmly for the future.


End file.
